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Toronto Hydro 2014 CR Report_FINAL

Facilities
In 2014, our total electricity consumption at
our facilities increased by 2.3% and natural gas
consumption increased by 6% over 2013.
This is partly attributable to:
• Three new buildings added to our
organizational boundaries23
• Colder winter conditions (more
heating degree days24)
• Employee relocation and major renovation
projects, which required longer operating
hours for affected facilities
Despite increased electricity use, the GHG
emissions from our facilities remained constant
due to the lower provincial emission factor (the
electricity mix in Ontario was less greenhouse
gas intensive in 2014 relative to 2013, with less
fossil fuel coal generated electricity).
Line losses
While our line losses remained consistent with
2013 values, the associated GHGs decreased by
2% due to the lower provincial emission factor.
SF6 fugitive emissions
Prior to 2014, our SF6 fugitive emissions were
estimated (using a leak rate of 1.9%). In 2014,
we used a new and more accurate process
for tracking these emissions (for details see
Data Sources). For this reason, our 2014 SF6
emissions increased by 29% relative to 2013.
56 TORONTO HYDRO 2014 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
Reducing our facilities footprint
and boosting energy efficiency
at 500 Commissioners St.
Toronto Hydro’s Facilities department
tracks energy consumption, square
footage of buildings, and GHG
emissions on a monthly basis through
the use of a balanced scorecard.
In 2014, we made some headway
towards reducing our facilities
environmental footprint and energy
consumption. We improved the
functionality of our buildings by
closing our location at 5800 Yonge
St. and making better use of existing
spaces at 500 Commissioners St.
Employees working in Information
Technology (IT), Customer Care, and
Grid Operations at our Yonge St.
location were transferred to our
building at Commissioners Street,
reducing our total square footage by
approximately 194,000 square feet.
As part of the move, we renovated
underused and redundant work
spaces, converting locker rooms and
labs to office facilities, downsizing
and relocating our lab, building an
updated data centre, and building a
state of the art control centre.
23 New facilities were acquired and are under renovation so that employees from leased facilities can be relocated (and the leased
agreements terminated).
24 Heating degree-days for a given day refer to the number of degrees Celsius that the mean temperature is below 10°C. If the temperature
is equal to or greater than 10°C, then the number will be zero. For example, a day with a mean temperature of 7.5°C has 2.5 heating
degree-days; a day with a mean temperature of 12.5°C has zero heating degree-days.